A recently released excerpt from an upcoming Star Wars book reveals Anakin Skywalker's (Hayden Christensen) reservations toward marrying Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman) in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. Attack of the Clones is one of the more controversial entries into the Skywalker Saga, with many critics lambasting the film for its stiff dialogue, wooden performances, and over reliance on CGI. To this day, it remains arguably the most maligned of George Lucas' Star Wars prequel trilogy films. Unfortunately, Christensen and Portman bore the brunt of these criticisms, despite the fact that Lucas himself has taken responsibility for the film's writing.
The final scene of the film shows Anakin and Padmé exchanging wedding vows on a lakeside terrace on Padmé's home world of Naboo. Because the marriage is shown as part of a musically-driven ending sequence sans dialogue, audiences never had a chance to hear either character's feelings before the end credits begin to roll. E.K. Johnston's upcoming novel Star Wars: Queen's Hope seeks to amend this by providing a glimpse of Anakin's thoughts just prior to their wedding.
In an excerpt from Johnston's book shared by Star Wars, it is revealed that Anakin did in fact have reservations about marrying Padmé. The book emphasizes that Anakin "was not entirely ready" for the marriage, partially due to the fact that his Jedi training conditioned him to prioritize "selflessness and detachment" at all costs; even at the expense of romantic love. Check out the full excerpt below:
"Anakin Skywalker was not entirely ready for this. Which, he realized, was not a surprise. His training had focused entirely on selflessness and detachment. That might be enough for most Jedi, but it was not enough for him."
The added depth of Anakin's internal feelings does a great deal to flesh out what was otherwise a brief scene in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. Apart from a handful of scenes mired in Lucas' trademark awkward dialogue, the film did little to convince its audience of the burgeoning feelings between the two characters. Anakin and Padmé's relationship is arguably the inciting incident for the entire Skywalker Saga, and the revelations included in Johnston's book help to underscore the stakes riding on the pair's taboo union.
In spite of the book's merits, Johnston's additions serve to remind readers of the missed opportunities in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. While lore junkies may appreciate the new details, the vast majority of Star Wars fans will likely remain unaware of the retroactive additions. This remains an ongoing issue with new Star Wars media, particularly with Lucasfilm's reliance upon tertiary storytelling mediums (like books and comics) to fill out narrative gaps in their main films. Hopefully, future films will be able to convey fully realized stories so that Star Wars books and comics can remain lore embellishments, rather than narrative crutches.
Source:Star Wars: Queen’s Hope (via Star Wars)
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